


Band meeting

by nymph_in_yellow



Series: So far away from LA [2]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF, Queen (Band)
Genre: Drama & Romance, Historical Inaccuracy, Historical Misappropriation, Internalized Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Mention of Death, Repressed Feelings, These are just my headcanons for a minor relationship in my other fic, mention of depression, mention of suicidal thoughts, not a real story, this is not a stand-alone fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 18:06:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18211745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymph_in_yellow/pseuds/nymph_in_yellow
Summary: These is my version of the Maylor relationship in the setting of my other fic titled So far away from LA. This is not a stand-alone work, it's just notes for whoever might be interested in my headcanons.





	Band meeting

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there ! If you're here you've probably read my other fic So far away from LA that I am currently writing. This is the Maylor background I've talked about in chapter two. If you want more information don't hesitate to ask, I'm always happy to share some ideas :)  
> I could eventually write some short works around those so if you're interested you can leave me a request (It might take more time, So far away from LA stays my priority). 
> 
> This is barely reread, I apologies for any mistakes. Hope you enjoy !

Maylor background : 

Brian had known the moment he heard Roger tuning his drums with deep focus on his face for his Smile audition that he would fall in love with him. Roger had known his heart belonged to Brian after hearing the first chords on the red special, his hazel eyes lost with the music. They danced around each other for a few years, internalized homophobia pushing them to repress their real feelings as their friendship grew. Freddie noticed Roger’s crush quickly after moving in with him, the younger man throwing himself desperately into meaningless one-night stands in a vain hope of making Brian jealous, and from then encouraged him to make a move on Brian. The older man was in fact jealous, but he mostly feared that showing the true nature of his feelings to Roger would anger him, because Roger was only taking women into his bed, and he never shared his feelings with anyone until they got together (but the longing in his eyes was enough of a tale for Freddie).

 

They had started to date only a few months after John joined the band : they shared a kiss one night under the stars, on the roof of the recording studio building. They had fond memories of Freddie proudly telling them the next day that he was the best matchmaker ever when he caught them holding hands. But both had decided keep it secret from every other relative in fear of very negatives reactions from their families and the public, not wanting to jeopardize the band’s early success. Freddie had later taken upon himself to be the flamboyant one to divert the attention of the press from his bandmates. John was the second person they told, a few weeks after Freddie. The bassist remembered Brian telling him that they all knew he was the perfect match for the band, and they trusted him with it as they were all hoping he’d stay with Queen.

 

Even if they had queer people in their groups of friends, even with Freddie’s watching after them, they never felt completely safe. Neither had been with a man before and it took them time to get over their fears of rejection from the other. Getting physically intimate was a long journey that strained Roger’s quite active libido, however he was ready to wait forever for Brian. It took them two years, a scheming Freddie and a half-naked photoshoot in 1973 for their first album to finally make Brian cave and let all his desire for the blond flow out. From then Roger’s long flowing hairs and his opened shirt were his best weapons and added to his incredible falsetto he could drive Brian crazy anytime he wanted him. Freddie had insisted they used his place anytime they wanted to have sex so they wouldn’t have to conceal hotel room reservations or fear having someone walking on them.

 

The ridge farm period was the one when they were the most openly affectionate, but only in front of their bandmates. Meaning Freddie and John had heard some noises they wish they hadn’t and walked in on them snogging in their room on a few occasions. They loved going on tour where they could be together without the weight of having to pretend being just friend and fake straight relationships. Brian had indeed been pressured by his parents to marry Chrissie, his friend and flat mate. He was very reluctant at first, feeling like he was betraying Roger who assured him he was ok with it if it helped Brian keep up appearances with his parents. Roger went with Dominique who helped them to stay covered. He and Dom were close friends and she was glad to have the security of a public relationship, being herself bisexual. They didn’t tell Chrissie and the woman wasn’t comfortable with how close her husband was with his best friend, but she dropped her suspicions after she succeeded convincing Brian to have their first child. 

 

The topic of children was behind their most serious fight around the Hot Space era. When Felix (Roger’s first son) was born, Roger started to reconsider their relationship as Brian already had one child. One year later, Louisa (Brian’s second child) was born and he told Brian that they should stop seeing each other, as they both had children they should be taking care off. Seeing Roger valuing family duties over their love, even though he knew that seemed like the most reasonable behavior, put Brian into a depressive episode. The tensions with the band didn’t help. Freddie was a lot by his side and, after confronting the drummer, was the one who found out that Roger was actually really insecure and thought Brian had fallen out of love with him to move on with Chrissie. They both loved each other dearly but children were the one thing they could never give the others and even though they had agreed on Brian having children with Chrissie and Roger with Dom, he couldn’t help but fear this would drive them apart. John and Freddie managed to patch them back together and from then they did their best to share everything.   

 

Then Chrissie had found out about their affair after Live Aid. She tried to gain Brian back with a third child only to realize he wasn’t seeing her as more than a very dear friend. Feeling deeply sad and betrayed, she threatened to divulge their liaison to the press. They paid her silence at a heavy price in the divorce that followed, but some rumors had already transpired, prompting Roger to marry Dominique as a cover up as well as to protect their children. This had been another difficult period for the guitarist with Freddie’s health deteriorating. Roger was desperate to be at his lover’s side as he was seeing him sinking back into depression. After his father and Freddie’s death, Brian admitted to him that he had contemplated suicide. Roger resolutely decided to make him move in with him. The press could talk as much as they wanted, as long as Brian was safe. They had lived together ever since.

 

Debbie, Roger’s friends, had accepted to be their surrogate mother in 1990 as they were starting to consider having children on their own. James, Louisa and Felix had always been good friends and were very protective of young Rory and Emily. They all immediately adopted Rufus, Tiger Lily and Lola as their younger siblings. James and Louisa were at first a bit cagey around their father as as they had witnessed some serious fights between their parents, but they really loved their uncle Roger and warmed up to the idea of them being together. Anita, who had become one of Brian’s best friends, was often here to help them deal with the kids.       

 

They came out in 2001, ten years after Freddie’s death during an interview where one of the journalists had made some homophobic inuendoes about their front man (Brian had to restrain Roger from punching him afterward). The interview had one of the biggest audiences in British television history since a lot of people were shocked to find out that they had been together since the seventies. They had discussed a lot about coming out to the public, but it came up mostly spontaneously.

 

They had joked about proposing to each other on multiple occasion, and even had matching ring they started wearing in the seventies, but Roger was render speechless anyway when Brian had got down on his knee to propose seriously. They were having a nice diner at home and they had just watched on TV the bill on marriage equality being voted. They had happily married each other in September 2014 with John and Anita as their witnesses and the support of their small tribe of children. The ceremony was sweet and intimate (Adam cried a lot and is always ready to talk about the wedding, with many photos to illustrate his talks). They had a very slow and passionate wedding night (Roger didn’t know he could still come multiple times at his age), then a honeymoon in Bali as a tribute to John.

Roger and Brian were now considered the most legendary couple of rock and should celebrate their fifty years as a couple in 2021 and their fifth wedding anniversary in September 2019.

 

Despite the numerous arguments inside the band, they always had John’s support regarding their relationship. He had seen both of them pretend with other people and he knew that they were the only one to make each other truly happy. He was deeply affected by Freddie’s death and they both showed him support after his decision to retire. They kept discreet contact, making sure that nothing could reach their bassist. He came out of his reserve on a few occasions, their wedding being the most noticeable one.

 

Maylor representation in BohRhap : 

Both men had shared their story with their movie counterparts, to give them more background about the band dynamic. They didn’t want their relationship to play a big part in the movie since it was mostly secret, and they didn’t like sharing it in public even after all this time. This had been one of the many issues they had with the producer who wanted it to include a full plot about them being openly in a relationship outside of Queen, and some drama around Brian’s divorce. Gwilym had later understood that seeing onscreen a form of liberty they were never able to have would have been too painful for both men, as well as mostly inaccurate.

 

Ben and he had discussed it with them and played the relationship mostly through gentle touches and loving glances.

They were a few holding hand scenes : in the back of the van scene, parting quickly when Freddie approached them, before coming on stage for their live aid performance, and after Freddie had told them he had aids. There was also a cut part of that scene where he urged Roger and Brian to get tested.

 

The script didn’t include any kiss scene, but Gwilym had spontaneously added the famous forehead kiss Brian had given Roger at the end of their Live Aid performance.

 

There is a cut studio scene showing the early stage of their relationship where Freddie made them record chores alone in the booth at the studio for _Funny how love is_ , the room full of tension, which cut at Roger’s biting his lips with the line “If you gotta make love do it everywhere” playing in the background.

 

The most forward scene was cut and is on the extended version : after the fight in the kitchen, Freddie walk back in to tell them the need to go to the studio to record his new ideas. John is alone and they can hear the creaking sounds of Brian’s bed as well as high pitch moans in Roger’s falsetto (Ben and he were in fact jumping on the bed like kids on a trampoline). Freddie looked questioningly at John who shrugged, saying they went upstairs to “make things up”. During the “Galileo” scene, Freddie teased Roger, asking him if he needs to send Brian in the booth to help him reach higher notes.

 

The AOBTD scene showed more explicitly Brian soothing Roger with calming touches and soft words. Another cut scene show them talking together about music and children during the hot space era, hinting at their recent fight and make-up.  

 

The band fight and break up scene had them acting nervous and angry because the couple thought Freddie had told Paul about their relationship, and the reunion scene in Miami’s office had a follow up in the corridor when they apologied to him for thinking he could have betrayed them. 


End file.
